'God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”'
--Genesis 9: 8-17
'In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”'
--Mark 1: 9-15
Let’s talk about covenants. That ain’t exactly a word we use nowadays – “I made a covenant with Bill that if the Tar Heels lost to Syracuse I’d paint his kitchen.” I didn’t actually do that, thank God since Carolina did lose on Tuesday, but the point is we don’t talk like that, do we? We promise, we even swear, but nobody makes a covenant anymore.
A covenant’s unique and more than just a mere promise; it’s a two-way street. It is explicitly relational. In a covenant both sides make promises that they intend to keep, and while the intention is for that commitment to be everlasting, covenants can be broken; ideally, by both parties but in some extreme cases one party can break it if it is clear that the other has violated the agreed upon terms that were set forth at the start.
God makes a variety of covenants with humanity, and during the season of Lent we will be hearings stories each week of how these covenants were established or renewed. I’m not saying you’re getting a sermon series because that ain’t exactly something Episcopalians do, but I’m not NOT saying that.
And we start today with the story of Noah and the Great Flood – or, rather, the nice part after the whole mass genocide of every living creature on the planet. For what it’s worth, I asked a rabbi friend of mine once how Jewish folks interpret this story because Christians have a really hard time reconciling the God of love with, ya know, THAT! She told me the story is an allegory, for one, not meant to be factual, but she also told me that whenever it is retold, the emphasis is not on the destruction but on the promise made afterwards, the covenant God makes not only with Noah and his family and the creatures that come out of the ark, but with everyone and everything that will live on the earth after them. The promise is to never again wipe out life in such a manner, and the sign of this covenant is the bow in the sky, the rainbow – think of it like this: God hangs up the bow, a weapon; an act of disarmament, to show God’s mercy. Today we still get a warm feeling when we see one in the sky, don’t we? As if God is reminding us of that promise – and when there’s a double one, then folks lose their minds! Go YouTube ‘Double Rainbow Guy’ to see for yourself.
Fast forward a few millennia and Jesus of Nazareth comes to the waters of the River Jordan to be baptized by his cousin John. Why would he do this, if John is proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins and Jesus is the sinless one? In Jesus’ case it’s not about that, but it is about participating in this relational moment with God – in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus tells John that he must do it because, as he says, “we must fulfill all righteousness.” Upon being baptized, Jesus sees a vision and hears a voice – meant for him, it seems, and not those around him. The voice speaks directly to him: “You are my Son, my Beloved, with you I am well pleased.” The covenant is made between God and Jesus. Or as the Church would come to explain it, the relationship between the First and Second Persons of the Trinity – Father and Son – which has existed since before time itself, is reaffirmed in the flesh in this moment.
And what happens as soon as that covenant is made? Jesus is whisked away into the wilderness, into the dessert, where he is tempted by Satan – which is a Hebrew word meaning ‘adversary’ – but the angels waited on him; or, as Preston Epps translates it, they “ministered to him.” It’s after these 40 days of temptation, fasting, and fighting with the devil, that Jesus returns to Galilee and begins his own ministry.
Come to think of it, I said that folks don’t make covenants anymore, but we do. I’d say nearly everyone here has made at least one because of your baptism. Your baptism wasn’t that much different from Jesus’ if you think about it. You were claimed by God as beloved in those waters. You have been tempted because life itself is full of temptations. You’ve been ministered to by angels, perhaps in your churches or elsewhere. And you have been called to engage in your own ministries, proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ by word and example.
You see, when God makes a covenant with people, God doesn’t expect them to just sit by idly. Whether it’s Jesus at his baptism and Noah and his family this week, or Abram next week, or Moses and the people the week after that, in every case God’s promise leads to human action. It is no different for us now. Saint Theresa of Avila once said that God has no hands, no feet, but ours. We are the agents by which the world comes to know this loving, liberating, and life-giving God. A whole bunch of people have been told about a different kind of God, a judgmental, bloodthirsty God, so it’s all the more important that we, recalling the covenant God has made with us through those baptismal waters, show them the Truth.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy, even if we have been claimed by God in this covenant relationship. It certainly wasn’t for Jesus, or Noah, or Moses, or Abram, or John the Baptist, or anyone else. The path to the deeper journey of understanding our call in this covenant relationship with God is not for our prosperity and ease. The way is not without anxiety, and the rewards often come years after we are gone. Yet this is why God calls us, not merely for our own sakes, but for the sake of those whose lives we touch and those whose lives will be impacted by the world that we leave behind.
At no moment in the Scriptures does God ever dissolve one of God’s covenants. Not ever. Sure, God makes new ones, but that doesn’t mean the previous ones are done for. Christians have, sadly and incorrectly, interpreted the new covenant with Jesus to mean that the old one with Israel is null and void – this is a sin called supersessionism. God has never dissolved a covenant in Scripture, nor has dissolved the covenant God made with you at your baptism. So where will you allow God to lead you? Into what wilderness? God often chooses adventure over safety. May you be adventurous this Lenten season, as you remember your own covenant with God and live more fully into it.